


Faint of Hart

by SirLadySketch



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Canon Compliant, Centaurs, Fantasia, Fauns, First Kiss, M/M, Secret Santa, flirting mishaps, world shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 17:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16748248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLadySketch/pseuds/SirLadySketch
Summary: Sora told Roxas that Fantasia was one of the most romantic places to visit, but he forgot to mention the bit about transformation. How's he supposed to admit his feelings to Axel--Lea, that is-- when he's got the legs of a goat?Post KH3 AkuRoku fic as part of the Discord Secret Santa gift exchange! (Shoutout to Autumnplants for reading/betaing for me!! <3)





	Faint of Hart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elderlemon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderlemon/gifts).



> If you haven't already, you guys should check out Lemon's amazing art! [ This picture in particular, which inspired the piece! ](https://www.instagram.com/p/BpYDagHnAKN/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=17kyo02q88g1y)

“This is weird. It’s not just me, right? You think this is weird too?”

Roxas stared at the book in consternation, worrying the bottom of his lip and glancing over to see how Lea was taking this. _Lea_ didn’t look nervous. Bored, maybe, but then again, he’d been alive longer and on more missions than Roxas, so maybe he was used to these kind of things at this point.

“It’s not _that_ weird, all things considered,” Lea said with a slight shrug. “Doesn’t hold a candle to the time I had to help extract a fancy chisel from a whale’s butt– no, don’t ask, it wasn’t as interesting as it sounds. Jumping into a book is _nothing._ ”

Roxas looked down at the stack of sheet music again. "I guess…. But still. Why did we agree to this again?"

"Because Sora and Riku are already out on assignment, Kairi’s studying magic with Master Yen Sid, the others are busy, and since it's a newly reawakened world there might be something dangerous that requires two people,” Lea said, then nudged him on the shoulder. “C'mon, it won't be that bad. We’ve fought all kinds of baddies in the past, why’re you so nervous?"

_Because Sora kept going on about how romantic it is. Because this is where Sora and Riku had their first kiss. Because I’m pretty sure Sora and Kairi set this up so I’d make a move or else one of them is gonna take the initiative and tell Lea for me._

“I miss portaling places,” he lied.

“There’s nothing to it, promise,” Lea said. He summoned his keyblade and pointed it at the book, then grinned at Roxas. “Wanna hold my hand so you don’t get lost?”

Roxas scoffed and called his own keyblade to his hand. “See you on the inside,” he said. A twist of the wrist and his keyblade began to glow. He heard the click of the book’s clasp releasing, saw the pages riffling as a magical wind stirred through them. There was a pulling sensation, a burst of light, and he was standing in the middle of a field.

Warm sunlight kissed his face, and flower-scented breeze played through the long grasses at his feet. Birdsong in the air harmonized with the faint strains of music he could _just_ make out over the happily burbling brook off to his left. Large, puffy white clouds swelled in the air, and flowers seemed to adorn every bush, tree, and hillside– that accounted for the smell at least.

Sora had been right– this _was_ an incredibly romantic spot, the perfect place to confess your feelings to the person you cared about. There was one thing that Sora had failed to mention, however, and Roxas felt that it was _kind of a_ _big deal._

“What happened to my clothes?” he yelped, and crossed his arms across his chest in embarrassment. Then his gaze traveled further down and he let out a strangled noise. _Fur_. His legs were covered in fur, and he couldn’t straighten out his knees. He swallowed in alarm, trying to fight the rising panic in his chest, but then he felt his ears _move_ , seemingly of their own accord.  And now that he was thinking on it, his head felt heavy, too. He reached up trembling hands to his now elongated and furry ears, then let them travel towards his head until he met solid, boney resistance. He immediately tried tugging the strange weight off, which _hurt_ , and his voice was several octaves higher when he finally got out, “What the _fuck_ is wrong with my body?”

“Relax,” Lea said from behind him, and Roxas jumped in alarm, falling over as his strange legs got tangled together. Lea was laying down in the grass, also shirtless, but he didn’t seem nearly as panicked as Roxas felt. Lea sat up slowly, stretching out his long legs and twisting to look himself over. “Huh, that’s new.”

"Lea, we have _animal legs–_ you have a horse butt! How are you not panicking?" Roxas asked, and his voice cracked as tension closed up his throat. Lea just shrugged.

“It happens sometimes,” Lea agreed, still sounding unperturbed. “Magic of the world changes you into something more suitable to blending in. In my case, that means a centaur. And in your case, you’re a fawn, I think. Sort of like … a goat hybrid? Or maybe a sheep-man, I dunno.”

“Sora never said anything about this!” Roxas insisted, rubbing hands down his legs to try to ease the tingling sensation away. He felt like his legs had fallen asleep– how was he supposed to carry out the mission if he was stumbling around? _How was he supposed to say anything remotely romantic when he looked like a goat?_

“He ‘n Riku went to a different score in the music book, that’s all,” Lea stretched his arms over his head, then slowly began moving each leg, no doubt trying to get a feel for his new body. “We’re in the new pages, remember? But all we’ve gotta do is run a quick survey of the area to make sure there aren’t any lingering bad guys and then we can jet. No trouble!”

Roxas bit down a frustrated sigh and concentrated on getting back to his feet instead. He felt a little better now that he was standing, but he was pretty sure his new form made him even shorter than before. He resisted the urge to run a hand down his leg again– the feeling of fur where skin and hair should've been was too surreal to deal with.

Still, he was bipedal, so it could’ve been worse. He looked back where Lea still sat on the ground. "Are you gonna be ok?" he asked.

"I just need a minute to get my feet under me," Lea replied, then paused. "And maybe a stick or something to help me stand up."

Roxas summoned his keyblade and was relieved to find that it, at least, remained unchanged in size or appearance. He held it out to Lea, who used it and his own blade to pull himself up on shaking, slender legs.

"You know, you're pretty..... wow," Roxas couldn’t finish, the smooth, slightly flirtatious line he’d had prepared disappearing as Lea reached his full height. He now towered a good two feet over Roxas, who tipped his head back and stared open mouthed.

"Pretty, huh?" Lea dismissed the blades, then turned in a slow circle, flexing and only stumbling a little as his legs got tangled together in a series of missteps. He caught his balance in a very undignified crouch with all four legs out, his arms frozen to his sides. He slowly eased up to a more normal standing position, although Roxas could see this legs trembling at the unaccustomed form. Still, when he caught Roxas staring at he grinned, and carefully flexed his arms. “I think you mean a pretty incredible sight huh?”

“I was gonna go with pretty tall, but now I’m thinking pretty ridiculous works too,” Roxas laughed, then hopped around him to inspect Lea’s new form.

He _was_ pretty, but Roxas wasn’t going to admit to that out loud. He’d never quite seen anything like it– he’d heard of horses and he’d read about centaurs, but neither prepared him for the sleek russet-red coat of a long legged creature attached to the very naked and toned torso that was Lea’s human half.

He coughed and looked down at himself again. He couldn’t be a goat. His legs weren’t as long as Lea’s but they seemed pretty powerful all the same. The fur covered up enough things for modesty at least, but he _really_ wouldn’t have said no to a shirt. He ran fingers through his hair and felt the bony protrusions again– horns, or maybe antlers? But his fur was more of a tawny color, so maybe he was some sort of deer thing. Oh well. Deer were majestic, right? More than a goat, anyway.

Lea started walking around again and Roxas turned back to watch, unable to look away. He really _was_ pretty, damn it, and the way he trotted and pranced around as he felt more comfortable on his four legs only showed off how pretty he was. Fortunately, Lea managed to break the moment when he paused to look at Roxas– really look– and he burst out laughing.

“Haha, oh man, I’m sorry, it’s just you’ve got the grumpiest look on your face but you’ve also got all this adorable floof. You’re like…. an angry cloud,” he cackled. He carefully trotted over and beamed down at Roxas, who scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “You even have a little bobtail! I just wanna pick you up and pet you, your hair is _super_ fluffy now, nothing like your usual spikes.”

He reached down to stroke Roxas’ hair, and it was all Roxas could do to resist leaning into that touch. Instead, he pushed Lea’s hand away and took a deliberate step back to put some distance between them. This was less because he wanted Lea to stop touching him and more because he had to put some distance between them to get a good look at Lea’s face.

"Hands off– I am a _hart or_ _stag,"_ Roxas corrected. He lifted a leg and pointed to the smooth tan fur ending in a sharp cloven hoof. "These have to be deer legs—I mean, look, I have antlers and everything!” He patted down his hair to show off the sharp bones, leaning forward so Lea could get a better look. Lea took advantage to reach down and ruffle his hair again.

“Hate to break it to you, but those are horns," Lea said, and laughed as Roxas quickly brushed his hair back to cover over the protrusions again. "I mean, they’re like small ram horns and they look cool, so there’s nothing to be upset about. I just think that if you were a stag, you’d probably be a centaur like me. Face it, my friend–you are a goat-man. Unless you’d rather be sheepish? And your ears, they look more like goat ears to me.”

Lea’s fingers traced along the edges of his ears which _were_ admittedly longer than normal. But deer had long ears too, right? Roxas’ hands flew up to cover them, and Lea dropped his hands to his hips.

“So what if you’re a goat guy?” Lea asked. “It’s a good look, you make it work. Here, wait, gimme a sec, I know something that might make it easier for you.”

He walked over to one of the flowering trees and reached up to pull off several branches, weaving them into a crown of blue flowers. He lowered the crown onto Roxas’ head, then stepped back to survey his work. He nodded in approval, then winked. “Very cute.”

Roxas flushed and stuck out his tongue, turning away in embarrassment. Instead of answering Lea, he took a few experimental steps, then a jog, then a few hops, and then a long leap with his _stag legs_ , getting a feel for his shifted body. It felt weird– his balance was off and he felt like he was being forced to walk on his tip-toes, except that he couldn’t really _feel_ his toes anymore and he was suddenly able to jump a lot higher than normal. He didn’t think he’d be able to run as fast as he would in his human form, but at least he was bipedal. He eyed Lea with a frown.

“Whatever, I can still outrun _you_. How can you even walk with all of those legs?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Lea said, lifting one leg, then the other. “You just focus on keeping up.”

“As if!”

Lea laughed, and took a few steps forward, a bit more coordinated this time. He made a slow circle around Roxas, then grinned down at him. “Don't worry! If you get tired, you can ride me!”

Roxas felt the blood rush to his face and brought both hands to his face, willing the blush to fade. He settled on a tone of exasperation, because if he let on that he'd half considered it– the ride, that was, not ‘ _riding’_ him – he'd never hear the end of it.

"Oh my god, Lea, _phrasing_ ," Roxas sighed. "Seriously, do you have a filter? What if there’d been people around?"

"I know what I said," Lea laughed, then pointed towards the top of the hill. "Anyway, let’s see how fast you are with your _stag legs–_ ” and he did finger quotes here “–shall we? Race you to that big rock!”

Lea took off at a run– or tried, anyway. He stumbled a bit as he remembered about three steps in that he had two other legs to deal with, and he went down to his knees. Roxas paused to see if he needed help, but Lea was laughing and already getting back to his feet, so Roxas turned and did a half-hopping, half-leaping jog towards the summit.

He wouldn’t call it his favorite experience visiting a different world– hands down, he’d go back to Neverland in a heartbeat and he’d fly for hours just so he could watch the stars up close and personal. But this was _good_. Maybe it was the sunshine, or the flowers, or the picturesque romantic scene, but he felt a rising giddiness in his heart, like there was some sort of sign telling him that _yes_ , today was the day he’d confess his feeling to Lea. He felt alive, he felt invigorated, he felt–

Fingers tickled his sides as Lea swept past him and charged up the hill, now fully adjusted and completely in control of his new form.

Roxas felt muscle spasms in his legs again, and promptly collapsed.

Lea didn’t notice him falling off the path until he’d reached the rock and let out a victory whoop, rising to his hindquarters and pawing at the air with his front legs. When Roxas failed to appear behind him, though, he quickly dropped to all four legs and trotted back down the path, scanning for signs of what had happened.

"Roxas?" Lea called, then followed the angry curses over to the bushes that had eaten his friend.

“It’s these stupid legs, I can’t walk in them! Help me up,” he said, reaching up his hand.

Lea bodily lifted him up and helped brush him down, then took a step back to survey the damage. There weren’t any flirty overtones this time, just a sympathetic smile, and Roxas wasn’t sure which was worse. Lea patted his back again. “Offer still stands if you wanna take a ride.”

“Let’s just do the search and get out of here,” Roxas said sourly, his good spirits effectively ruined. Lea’s smile dropped a fraction, and he gestured ahead.

“Sure thing. You lead, I’ll bring up the rear.”

Despite the illusion of an expanse of rolling hills and lush forests, the world didn't end up being all that large. They made a full loop of the winding path in relative silence, although there was the continuous music that drifted in and out of his awareness. Roxas didn’t say anything, not really in a mood for a concert, and besides, the music was kinda gloomy despite the pretty scenery. Why Sora had been so enamored with this place was beyond him– he’d be happier back in Twilight Town, which was way more relaxing than some weird animal world, and besides, they had a lot of good memories there– wouldn’t that’ve been the better place to unload his feelings?

They ended up by the stream again when it was clear they'd checked the perimeter of the world without coming into contact with anyone or anything. Lea sat down with a sigh, stretching his front legs out so they could dangle into the water. Roxas plopped down a few feet away, picking up a stone to throw. It skipped a few times before sinking, but even that felt pointless.

"Well, that was a morning wasted, sorry I dragged you along into this stupid book," Roxas sighed, then plopped back into the grasses to stare up at the soft blue sky. "I don't get it, Sora said there were people here. Did we miss them or something?"

"They could all be sleeping it off," Lea suggested, and laughed when Roxas gave him a puzzled look. He tapped his nose, and Roxas frowned for a minute before he understood. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Flowers. He smelled lots and lots of flowers, something akin to how a room smelled after Marluxia threw a hissy fit, but that was to be expected, given that everything around them was in bloom. He ignored that scent and moved on to the smell of running water and freshly crushed grass– again, not surprising, given their location.

There was a fourth scent that gave him pause, something tangy and sour but sweet. He tried to remember where he'd last smelled it, which world he'd visited and what it might be. It almost reminded him of the way Luxord smelled after partying too long with the pirates, or Xaldin after he'd been visiting that castle with the monstrous prince. He frowned when he realized what that meant.

"You think they're all hungover?" he asked, and Lea laughed.

"Among other things, yeah."

Another scent accosted his nose as Roxas considered that, something musky and vaguely familiar, almost like sweat mixed with something else. He couldn’t quite place it, though, and frowned at Lea, questioning. Lea's eyebrows shot up and he flushed, then looked away. In fact, he looked _embarrassed_ , embarrassed enough to stand up and make a show of walking it off to stretch his legs.

"You'll get it when you're older," Lea said, and something in the way he said it triggered a few embarrassing memories and then suddenly Roxas knew _exactly_ what that last mystery smell was. He really, really wished he hadn't figured it out, though.

"Oh," he said, voice small, then, "Eww." He looked down at his lap, only to be reminded of his stag legs, which made him start to think a little harder about the mechanics of it. "–oh, gross. I mean, I guess people can do their thing, but, um… I mean with the half human-half animal thing, how...? _Where_ …?"

Lea coughed. "Yeah, probably maybe don't think about that one too hard," he advised. He coughed again to clear his throat, then gestured over to the trees a ways off the path. "Anyway, why don't we check out the trees, grab a bite to eat, then we can hoof it back to those buildings and go inside, see if that's where all the action's happening."

"Do we actually want to see the action?" Roxas asked, but got up all the same, trotting beside Lea and trying not to think too hard about what they might stumble upon. They had a job to do, after all, and it was their duty to make sure the people of this world were safe. Even if they were hungover and sleeping off....stuff.

Roxas looked at Lea through the corner of his eye, considering that. If the people of this world were shaped like them, like centaurs and stag-people, how did they...? Unless that’s what the wine was for, to help with the awkwardness of everything. But still, whose first reaction was to do _that_ when their world reawakened and they came back to life?

"You're still thinking about it, I can tell," laughed Lea, and Roxas felt his cheeks burn. "C'mon, some food'll get your mind off things." He stopped and looked up at one of the nearby trees, the rubbed his chin in thought. “Hope you like fruit.”

"There's no way either of us can reach that, you know," Roxas said, coming to stand beside Lea and staring up at the grapes above them. "Even your arms can't stretch that far up."

"Not on my own, no, BUT!" Lea suddenly grabbed him by the waist and hoisted him up onto his broad back, holding up his arms to stabilize him. "Together we can get the job done! Sora'd be proud of us, right? Working together like old times."

Roxas yelped in surprise at the sudden shift in their positions, and he inwardly groaned as he felt the familiar tingle of his legs locking up again. Were all worlds' shape shifting so uncomfortable? These stupid stag legs _sucked_.

Fortunately, his legs froze in such a way that he was able to keep his balance pretty well, as long as he held onto Lea's arm. Lea cautiously took a few steps forward and reached back as best he could to help Roxas stabilize as he pulled down large clusters of grapes.

He stopped when he couldn't carry anymore, then frowned, realizing he was stuck. He needed his hands to get off Lea’s back without falling, and he didn't trust his stupid legs not to freeze up again if he tried hopping down.

"Umm..." he trailed off, but Lea patted his back again.

"Just sit down and hold onto my hand," he said, and half turned to grin up at him. "I'm gonna head over to that rock again and you can hop off there, k?"

Roxas carefully sat down and gripped the sides of Lea's back with his knees, and, even though it was kind of an awkward pose, Lea reached back a hand that lightly gripped Roxas' side, holding him in place.

He felt his heartbeat pick up at the touch of those long warm fingers against exposed skin, and he swallowed hard, hoping Lea wouldn't feel the reaction or ask him about it. He opened his mouth to say something, but Lea stopped before he could open his mouth, looking around with a slight frown.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked, and Lea shook his head as though to clear it.

"Nothing, it's just, the music died, then went into a drum solo.” Lea paused, and twisted back to look at him, a slightly worried look on his face. “...You're hearing music too, right? It's not just me?"

Roxas laughed despite himself. "It wouldn't be much of a music book if it was just silence," he teased, and was rewarded with Lea sticking out his tongue.

"Alright, smartass… It just took me by surprise, that’s all. I wasn’t expecting such an intense beat outta nowhere." He turned back around, but he didn't let go of Roxas' side. Roxas willed his heartbeat to slow down and the drumbeats subsided. Sora hadn’t mentioned _that_ little musical side effect either.

The percussions and Roxas' traitorous heart had settled down by the time Lea got them to the spot for their impromptu picnic, and Roxas was able to slide off without too much fear of dropping anything. Once he was safely on the ground, he handed a few clusters of the grapes to Lea, then hopped up on a stump so they could sit at more or less the same height.

"So where would you go if you were..." Roxas started, then stopped, trying to figure out a tactful way of describing the state of the world's denizens. Lea snorted, talking through a mouthful of grapes.

"Hungover and horny?" Roxas choked, but yes, that was a good description. Lea swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I dunno, someplace dark, probably. And private, because... y'know." He grinned at Roxas, who decided to avoid responding to that by popping grapes into his mouth.

He spat it out almost immediately. “Augh, they’re _sour_!”

“Yeah, seems like they fermented on the vine, so I guess it’s possible that means that the people here might’ve accidentally got drunk. Sucks for them.” He finished off the last of his grapes anyway, then wiped the juice off on the grass. He looked over at Roxas and his uneaten food.

“If you’re not gonna eat that, what do you say to heading over to those buildings and then hoofing it outta here? I’ll get you a real lunch when we get back, we’ll go into town or something and grab something else.”

Roxas hopped off his rock and they made their way towards the small buildings they’d seen in their first pass of the area. The music had settled down a bit into a calm, sweeping melody that rolled over the hills around them, and Roxas felt himself relaxing again, despite the morning’s mishaps. When they found the people of this world and ensured that everything was safe, they could get out of this stupid book and back to civilization. But he’d still get to hang out with Lea, so the day wouldn’t be a _complete_ waste. He’d still yell at Sora for this, though. _Romantic adventure his ass._

They heard them before they saw anything, long ears flicking forward to catch the quiet sounds of people sleeping off what must’ve been one heck of a hangover if the smell was any indication. Roxas looked up at Lea who held a finger to his lips, and they carefully crept into the nearest building to see what they’d find.

There were a _lot_ of people. Specifically, there were a lot of couples who were draped all over each other, which was a feat given the number of limbs and the contortions they’d had to get into to achieve those poses. Roxas flinched in sympathy– if the hangovers didn’t make them cranky when they woke up, the stiff backs and entangled legs would. He looked up at Lea again, who scratched his chin in thought, looked down at Roxas, then shrugged.

“I don’t see any heartless or smell any darkness, just… y’know. I guess they’re ok,” he said, and his voice echoed throughout the room, seeming to get louder with each new iteration. Several groans and complaints came from around the room, and even the music played a long-suffering note of discordant unhappiness. Lea rolled his eyes but lowered his voice a little.

“Anyone dead, or are you all just having a nice lie-in?”

“Someone get him out of here,” whined a high-pitched woman’s voice, and there were grumbles of agreement around the room. The music took on a harsh whine, then fell back into lulling strings and woodwinds. Lea looked at Roxas and shrugged again.

“Guess they’re ok,” he said.

Roxas surveyed the group and came to a similar conclusion– they were clearly hung over and worn out, but they seemed fine, and they’d been around this world long enough to see that it didn’t really have any overt danger. In fact, they’d probably be in more danger standing here and talking while people were nursing migraines than in any other situation in this place.

“We should go,” he murmured, then tugged on Lea’s arm, trying to get him to follow. Lea gave the group one final look then shrugged.

“Yeah, we can always try again later– maybe earlier in the piece, _before_ they start their revelry.” He grinned, then called over his shoulder, raising his voice to fill the room. “You all sleep tight now!”

There was an angry outcry that had Roxas’ hairs standing on end. He leaned his full weight into trying to pull Lea out of the danger zone, but Lea was just laughing, taking his time to leave. He _clearly_ did not have a functioning survival instinct in this form– Roxas had seen the spears and shields on the walls of the massive room, and while Lea might be fast Roxas was not, and he didn’t want to be left behind to be torn apart at the mercy of an angry mob.

“Lea, c’mon!”

An empty urn shattered at the entrance of the building, and Roxas jumped, feeling the now-familiar tingle running up the sides of his legs. _Not now!_ He gave up on dragging Lea away and tried to head off on his own, figuring Lea could catch up once he realized the danger. Running seemed to help work out some of the tingles, and he was gaining speed when another bottle shattered immediately in front of him. Surprised, his legs seized up again and he nearly fell off the path again.

Lea ran up beside him, laughing breathlessly as another urn hurtled over their heads. “Time to go!” He scooped up Roxas before he could get a complaint in, and deposited him on his back, then picked up speed, leaving the rain of pottery far behind them.

He didn’t stop running until they were at the edge of the field and rolling hills. He helped Roxas off his back and circled back to watch behind them, making sure that they hadn’t been followed by vindictive migraine sufferers. The road was clear, so he turned back to look at Roxas, who was back on the ground, legs seized up in an uncomfortable and compromising position.

“Are you– huh,” Lea cut himself off, tilting his head as he stared at Roxas. “Do you need a hand up?”

“Just give me a minute,” Roxas said, wishing he’d fallen in a position that was anything _other_ than flat on his back, legs in the air. “I got another muscle cramp.”

Lea frowned for a moment, studying Roxas’ awkward pose, then a slow grin cut across his face. “I have an idea and I wanna try something, but we need more space. Can you follow me?”

Roxas got to shaky legs and nodded, and Lea headed off at a trot. Roxas scrambled to keep up, shaking off the last of the tingles and falling a little behind when Lea picked up the pace. He didn’t start to worry until Lea broke into a gallop and disappeared behind a rocky outcrop– it was stupid to get separated. Even if it was clear that the world’s inhabitants didn’t have anything to worry about, it was still better to stick together.

He abandoned the attempt to run like a normal person and started the bounding hops he’d perfected earlier. He finally hit his stride and started to gain speed, and he pricked his ears forward, trying to listen for Lea’s hooves ahead. He was so focused on finding Lea that he completely ran past him, only noticing him when Lea shouted “BOO!”

Roxas went over hard– or he would have, except Lea scooped him up and trotted off towards the woods again. Lea was snickering under his breath and ignoring Roxas’ demands to be put down until they’d come to a secluded spot. The grasses gave way to moss and mushrooms, and Lea very carefully set Roxas down on a half-rotting log, arms on either side to help him stay upright.

“So, I think we need to talk,” he said, and there was still a trace of laughter in his voice. Roxas crossed his arms and refused to look at him, far too embarrassed to reply. Lea didn’t seem too surprised, though. “I know you wanna keep up the pretense that you’re a deer–”

“I _am_ a hart!”

“–but I think I’ve figured out why you keep falling over.”

Roxas’ ears pricked forward again (which, wow, _that_ was still kind of a weird sensation to get used to), and Lea grinned when he saw that he had Roxas’ full attention.

“Have you ever heard of fainting goats?”

“...fuck,” Roxas said, and Lea laughed again, reaching down to hold his hands.

“So you’ve only been falling over when you get surprised, but the rest of the time you’re fine, so I think it’s just bad luck that you kept getting startled.” Lea gave his hands a quick squeeze. “That’s ok, now that we know we can just make sure that we’re prepared.”

“Crap, what would’ve happened if we’d run into some actual danger? You’d have to fight for both of us and protect me at the same time.” Roxas lowered his head, but he didn’t pull away from Lea’s touch. “I’m gonna kill Sora when we get back. Him and his stupid ideas…”

Lea shrugged. “Well, it’s not exactly what I’d envisioned when we got here and I’m sorry you’ve been having such a rough time of it, but I had a lot of fun today. It was good hanging out with you, just the two of us. Just like old times.”

“Lea, I’m a _fainting goat man_.”

“I think the technical term is ‘fawn,’” Lea supplied, then grinned at Roxas’ flat stare. “It’s a cute look for you! And don’t sweat about the falling-over thing, I already told you I don’t mind giving you a ride. It could be fun! Give me a chance to _fawn_ all over you.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re lucky I still can’t feel my legs or I’d kick you,” Roxas lied.

“Our next mission will be better,” Lea promised. “Next mission will be to a normal world. Or we could just skip out and go somewhere fun, just for the joy of it. We could go to the Dragon country, see some fireworks–oh, or the Coliseum, we could enter a tournament! And it’d be fun to fly in Neverland again, if we still can.”

“I guess,” Roxas said, “I guess… I dunno, Sora really talked this place up and I thought it might be fun, but nothing’s gone right and this whole mission has been a waste of time and completely stupid.”

“Well, let me know when you can feel your legs again,” Lea replied, and something in the way he said it made Roxas look at him, _really_ look. “‘Cause I wanna try something else that’s stupid.”

Lea was flushed from their impromptu run, wild hair in even more disarray than normal, and this close Roxas could see a light dusting of freckles across his shoulders– probably because he’d been spending so much time at Radiant Gardens helping with the rebuilding efforts. And he was looking up at Roxas with such an intense focus that it took Roxas a moment to realize the music in the air had stopped, hovering on a long, questioning note. Lea was holding his breath, waiting for Roxas to speak.

Instead, Roxas leaned down and kissed him.

Cymbals crashed and they both jumped apart in surprise, Lea accidentally letting go as Roxas slid off the log and backwards into the moss. The music was in full swing again, loud and joyful and hearty, but Roxas was in no mood to appreciate the joyful strains. When Lea gripped his arm to help him upright, he shook off Lea’s hand and started hopping up the hill, heart racing.

“I want out of this damn book, _now_ ,” he said, very much aware that Lea hadn’t really reacted at all. He clearly hadn’t read the situation correctly, and now he was not only a damn goat man, he’d made a fool of himself and maybe overstepped and made things awkward with his best friend. He was going to _murder_ Sora when he got out– or maybe he’d find Riku and take it out on him. It was more satisfying to take a whack at Riku, anyway.

“What’s wrong, can’t take a little music appreciation?” Lea asked, and while his voice was light and teasing, it also seemed sort of stilted, and the awkward pause before Lea’d spoken up said volumes about how he was feeling.

Roxas shut his eyes and summoned his keyblade, feeling the portal pull him forward. Suddenly he was back in Yen Sid’s tower, fully clothed and human again. He started to make a run for the door but Lea reached out and caught him by the arm.

“I promised you a real lunch, remember?” Lea held on and practically dragged him down the stairs, despite Roxas’ flustered protests. “C’mon, there’s that new food cart that just opened up. We’ll grab a bite to eat and then hang at the usual spot.”

Roxas did not _want_ to grab a bite and hang out at the usual spot with the Twilight Trio, he wanted to go find Sora and Riku and take out all of his frustrations on them. But Lea kept him in a firm, unrelenting grip, and while Roxas tried to pull the ‘we should check in’ card, Lea handed him the lunch bags and pushed him along.

“Food first, debriefing later. The old man’s not even here right now, it’s fine.”

It was a both a surprise and a relief to discover that for Lea, the ‘Usual Spot’ was at the top of the Clock Tower and not in the Trio’s hideaway. Lea led him up the twisting staircase and jimmied the lock til it gave way, then waited for Roxas to go through first so he couldn’t escape– not that he could, since he was carting the food around.

Lea wasn’t saying anything, not even mentioning the whole ‘Fantasia Fiasco’ (as Roxas was now thinking of it), so maybe he’d decided they could just pretend it didn’t happen. Which… stung, but it was an answer to Roxas’ unspoken question, and it was as gentle a let down as he could hope for without making things more awkward than it already was.

They settled down with their backs against the sun-warmed stone, and he handed Lea his hot dog and drink before digging out his own food from the bag. He set the order of pepper poppers between them, figuring fried food was as good a barrier as any.

“Thanks for lunch,” he said, taking a bite from the sandwich as Lea tucked into his hot dog. It was good– better than the stupid alcoholic grapes, anyway– but he couldn’t quite appreciate the flavors, not when he knew that Lea was probably thinking about the kiss, too. He forced down the food with a sip from his bottle, but even that tasted flat.

If only he hadn’t leaned forward. If only he’d insisted on leaving as soon as they knew the people of the world were safe. How could he have misread the situation so badly? Lea must think the worst of him, or maybe he’d just chalked it up to the stupidly romantic atmosphere and figured Roxas had been caught in the moment. Either way, he’d made a mess of things.

“Something wrong?”

Lea’s voice was so unexpected that Roxas nearly dropped his juice, managing to catch it at the last minute and carefully setting it down. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and wishing he didn’t have to explain when Lea clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“Look, I messed up, ok?” he asked, and his voice cracked a little as he tried to keep calm. Still, he gripped the bottle of juice hard enough that the plastic cracked. “I’m sorry, I was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, the stupid music and the scenery were just getting to me, and when Sora told me he’d asked Yen Sid to send us together I thought it was because he knew something since that’s where he n’ Riku first kissed ‘cause it was romantic and stuff. I was so caught up in everything I didn’t realize that you….”

He broke off, not wanting to finish that sentence, and sighed again. “Anyway I didn’t mean to make it uncomfortable for you, I’m sorry. You’re my best friend and I wouldn’t want some stupid book changing that. Can we just… keep going the way things were?”

Lea watched him without much reaction, and just kept eating his hot dog. His face was relaxed into a pleasant, interested look, the same look he used whenever Ienzo started going off one some weird thing he’d read in a book and Lea was only half-listening to the conversation. By the time Roxas stopped talking he’d finished his sandwich and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Did you know you’re still wearing your flower crown?” Lea asked out of the blue, and Roxas’ hands flew up to his head. Sure enough, the light circlet of flowers was still there, albeit a bit loose without the horns to hold it up. Lea grinned at his reaction, and winked. “It’s still cute.”

“What–?”

Lea leaned forward and kissed _him_ this time, and Roxas could’ve sworn that he heard the damn drums again. It took him a moment to realize that was his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

They were at an awkward angle, Lea leaning over their lunch to kiss him, and there was a distinct taste of hot dogs, pepper poppers, and soda, but Roxas would take _this_ over a stupid symphony any day. He smiled and leaned up and into the kiss, bringing up a hand to hold onto Lea’s arm for balance. When they broke apart, he sat back, feeling the blush across his face.

“That was a lot better than anything in that stupid music book,” Roxas said, smiling up at Lea, a fluttering thrill running through his heart. “Although I did think you made a pretty centaur.”

Lea beamed down at him. “I’m pretty fawn-d of you myself,” he said, “and maybe we can sneak back in at intermission– kissing a cute goatman with a fully orchestrated score in that background wasn’t half-baad.”

Roxas hit him with a pepper.


End file.
